USA > Ohio > History of the Upper Ohio Valley, with family history and biographical sketches, a statement of its resources, industrial growth and commercial advantages, Vol. I > Part 36
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92
* In the memoirs of Martin Van Buren, seventh president of the United States, there occurs an interesting speculation on the part of his biographer upon the point as to whether Mr. Van Buren would have ever attained the remarkable success which he achieved had he not been compelled to undergo a severe struggle in his youth for a limited education, whereby the native resources of the man were de- veloped and disciplined, and whereby he was enabled to far excel his more favored professional and political competitors. The late Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania, than whom no man of his day exercised a more decided personal influence or attained a more absolute sway over a larger personal following, was accustomed to attribute a large measure of his success to what he styled "the advantages of de- privation in his youth," and he often humorously remarked that his son, who succeeded him in the United States senate, was unfortunate in not having enjoyed the same advantages. A great deal has been written by way of lament over the fate of those who have gone through life "unknowing and unknown" because of the hardships of their early surroundings-of youths "to fortune and to fame un- known," whose hands "the rod of empire might have swayed" had "knowledge to their eyes her ample page unrolled." But notwith- standing all that orators have said and poets sung on this subject, the fact remains that the men who do the most of all that is useful in the work of life, and who set the best examples of wholesome and well- ordered careers, are not, as a rule, the favored children of so-called good fortune; but, on the contrary, the inheritors of toil, arduous struggle and rigorous self-denial. There must indeed be something -yea, very much-in a man who rises strongly and steadily from the midst of early difficulties and achieves of himself and by himself honorable and enviable success in life. He must have an inheritance of sturdy qualities that other men may faintly imitate but never ac- quire. It is in his blood and bone; in his mental, moral and physical
* By Hon. George W. Atkinson.
19-A.
.
290
HISTORY OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY.
make-up; and comes out all the more strikingly, like the enduring qualities of metal, by the severest tests. A weak man naturally is always weak whether good or ill-fortune betides him at his birth. The thin veneer of propitious circumstances may do something for him, but the experienced and discerning eye of the world always dis- tinguishes the veneer from the substance underneath. It is of a solid, substantial and genuine man we write in this biographical sketch of Mr. John Frew, the senior member of the firm of Frew, Campbell & Hart, proprietors of the Wheeling Daily Intelligencer newspaper and book and job printing establishment. These are the qualities for which he has been known since his boyhood days in that establish- ment, for he has been connected with it as employe and employer from his youth up to the present time. Such men are not apt to change places or employments. The material that is in them is dis- cerned early, and they are appreciated and in demand, and all the more in demand because they are not a numerous class. On their part, such men are, as a rule, patient and sagacious, content to "labor and to wait," recognizing that their opportunity will come. "All things come to him who waits." Patience, energy, good judgment, system, punctuality, and reliability, what a world of work they can perform and what a grand measure of personal success they can achieve. And every man and boy who has gone in and out of the Intelligencer establishment for a generation past knows full well that these are the stereotyped qualities of the man who stands at the helm in the business department of that paper. To begin at the beginning of Mr. Frew's life, he was born in a locality in Europe which, accord- ing to historian Bancroft, has furnished to this country a class of cit- izens who have more decidedly and beneficially impressed themselves on its history than any other class of immigrants. What there is in the soil or climate of the north of Ireland to produce this type of people may be a matter of speculative opinion, but it is a matter of history that they gave the impulse that resulted in American independence. They formulated in North Carolina the celebrated Mecklenberg dec- laration that paved the way for the later declaration at Philadelphia, on July 4, 1776. Tenacity of purpose, energy, thrift and good citizen- ship have been among their marked characteristics, as also loyalty and fidelity to all the obligations of life. Tennyson spoke of the "long enduring blood" of a native of that region who made a great name for himself, and perhaps no better phrase could be used to des- ignate the stamina of the north of Ireland people as a class. At all events, it is applicable enough to the subject of this sketch, who whether as employe or employer, has never measured his devotion to the interest entrusted to his charge by the amount of salary, or by the ease and comfort of his personal convenience.
Mr. Frew is pre-eminently a self-made and a self-educated man, and yet few men in business can write a better letter, more pointed and terse, or one spelled more correctly and expressed more gram- matically. This results from a naturally correct eye and ear, as well as from the training of his occupation as a compositor and proof-
1
291
OHIO COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
reader. He has always had the correct and observing eye of an art- ist in his business, and no master-printer anywhere excels him as a judge of good work, whether executed in plain black or in any variety of colors. As a man for an exigency, whether by fire or flood, or by reason of a strike, or any other unlooked for event, Mr. Frew never fails to come to the front. There are men who are at their best under stress of circumstances, and he is one of then. Gen. Grant gives this in his book as one of the distinguishing traits of Gen. Sherman. He never once in the war disappointed his expectations. He was always on time just where and when he was expected. This is the genius of a real commander, and we have commanders in peace as well as in war, and in small spheres as well as large ones. Mr. Frew has always filled a sphere of this modest sort, after the faithful and efficient man- ner of "Old Tecumseh " in war. He never lets down while the emer- gency exists or the battle is on. He is a " stayer" in all his undertakings. With this much by way of general introductory comment in regard to Mr. Frew's position before the public, we proceed to give the follow- ing biographical epitome of his career from boyhood up to the pres- ent time: John Frew, son of Alexander Frew (who, though not wealthy, was a well-to-do citizen of his day,) and Esther (Scott) Frew, was born October 17, 1835, near the town of Antrim, county Antrim, Ireland. His parents came with their family to America in 1838, and shortly after their arrival, located at Steubenville, Ohio. John worked the larger portion of two years in a cotton mill, and attended the pub- lic and private schools during the summer seasons. The greater part of his education, which, in many respects, is a thorough one, was ob- tained in the printing office -one of the best schools open to men of good minds and industrious habits. He began the printing business, in 1848, with Wilson & Harper, of the Steubenville fournal, and served his apprenticeship in the Herald office at Steubenville, under the vet- eran editor and publisher, W. R. Allison. He came to Virginia in 1852, and established himself as a printer in Wheeling, working for a few months in the office of the Argus, which was published by J. K. Dun- ham. His next employment was one year in the Times office, a news- paper published by E. R. Bartleson. In August, 1853, he began work at $5 a week in the Intelligencer job office. At that time Messrs. Swearingen & Taylor were publishers and proprietors of the Intelli- gencer.' He worked nearly three years in that position, and in April, 1856, was promoted to the position as foreman of the job department of the establishment at a greatly increased salary. He remained in charge of the job office through the proprietorship of J. H. Pendleton & Co., Beatty & Co., and Campbell & McDermot, until January, 1866, when he became one of the proprietors of the Intelligencer, under the firm name of Campbell, Frew & Co. At that time he was made busi- ness manager of the establishment, and has continued, without inter- ruption, in that responsible position to the present day. Mr. Frew, during his connection with the Daily Intelligencer, has witnessed the wonderful, yet steady and solid growth of that newspaper. Although for many years it has been one of the well established and leading
-
292
HISTORY OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY.
journals of the Ohio valley, the plant has gone on growing, and the influence of the paper has constantly widened, until it has reached the value and rank of a metropolitan newspaper. It has all of the mod- ern appliances; issues daily, semi-weekly, and weekly editions; has an extensive book and job department and bindery, and turns out any- thing and everything from a label to a perfectly bound book. To Mr. Frew's good judgment and practical knowledge of every depart- ment of the business, the paper's wonderful success is, in a large , measure, due. When necessary to do so, he can go into any depart- ment of the establishment and turn his hand to anything necessary to be done. The writer has seen him, during a strike, or when some of the mechanical men were sick, working at the case, making up forms, running the presses, and reading proof almost at one and the same time. No wonder a printing establishment proves a financial success with such a business manager as this. Mr. Frew, though an intense republican, has no taste for the ins and outs of political life. He never sought public position. He was several times, however, draughted into the service of his party, and acted as a member of the council from the Seventh ward . in 1865 and '66; was elected public printer in 1866, and was twice re-elected, continuing in office until the change of administration in March, 1871; and was an active member of the board of commissioners of Ohio county from 1876 to 1880. In 18So he was a candidate for the legislature from Ohio county, but was defeated along with the balance of the ticket. In January, 1881, hc was the candidate of his party for mayor of Wheeling, and was de- feated by a strict party vote. He was an elector-at-large for West Virginia on the republican ticket in 1884, and in 1888 he was a dele- gate-at-large to the national republican convention that nominated Benjamin Harrison for president of the United States. His friends presented his name for postmaster of Wheeling under the Harrison administration, but he withdrew of his own accord before action was taken thereon.
Mr. Frew has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Mary E. Pearce, of Steubenville, Ohio, whom he married May 4, 1858. She died January 7, 1872, leaving two daughters, Mary, who is unmarried, and Ida, who is the wife of James K. Hall. He married Mrs. Mary B. Glass, also of Steubenville, July 20, 1876. Mr. Frew is near six feet tall, and is erect and finely proportioned. His countenance is open and kindly, yet commanding and dignified. To his subordinates he is always approachable and sympathetic; and while requiring of them their best efforts, he is ever ready to instruct, aid and counsel. He is the embodiment of honor and reliability in all his dealings, and for years has been connected with many of the leading industries of" Wheeling.
John Friedel, well-known as one of the most extensive dealers in queensware, glassware and crockery at Wheeling, at 1119 Main and II20 Water streets, has been a resident of this city since 1862, when he became an errand boy at the notion store of Augustus Pollock. He remained with Mr. Pollock four years, and in 1866 engaged with
293
OHIO COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
John L. Hobb, Son & Co., in the china, glass and queensware trade, as traveling salesman. He held that position eight years. In the fall of 1873 he began business for himself, opening a retail and whole- sale crockery business, which at first was small, but has grown steadily, until the business is now quadrupled in volume. The wall paper business, which was opened at the same time, has also been largely developed. Mr. Friedel's stock of goods in all these lines is widely known to be extensive and complete, and one man is continu- ally employed in traveling for the wholesale trade. Mr. Friedal was born in Monroe county, Ohio, February 18, 1846. His father, George Friedel, was a native of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, and came to America in 1845, settling in Monroe county. In the spring of 1846 he removed to Wheeling, and there followed the trade of stone cutter, in the employment of George W. Hartman. In this occupation he was an expert, as he and two brothers had been engaged in Germany in bridge building and the erection of fine stone houses. He returned in 1853 to his farm in Monroe county, Ohio, and there remained until his death in 1881, being at that time in his sixty-fifth year. His wife, whose maiden name was Catherine Block, a native of Germany, survives, at the old homestead, in her seventy-third year. The subject of this mention was married in 1872 to Caroline Pfarr, daughter of John Pfarr, of Wheeling. She died in March, 1873, and he was married in 1875 to Mary E Pfarr. He has two children, a daughter aged eleven years, and a son aged five. Mr. Friedel is a member of the German Lutheran church. He is a stockholder in the German bank.
Kennedy Friend, a well-known business man of Wheeling, is a son of R. T. Friend, one of the early settlers and business men of the city. The senior Friend was a native of Hagerstown. Md., born in 1818, but when about fifteen years of age he removed to Pittsburgh, where he learned cabinet-making, and subsequently engaged in the furniture business. While at Pittsburgh he was married to Eliza McCouch, a native of that city. In 1846 he removed with his family to Wheeling, and entered the employment of G. Mendel and then of Jeremiah Clemmans, as foreman of their cabinet-making establishments. He was so engaged until 1852, when he went to California and remained there three years, part of that period being spent in the gold fields. On his return to Wheeling he engaged in the furniture business with Jeremiah Clemmans, under the firm name of J. Clemmans & Co. That firm did business until 1862, when it was dissolved and gave place to the firm of Friend & Son, the partners being R. T. and Kennedy Friend. The senior member continued in the furniture business until his death September 15, 1869. His widow survived until 1877, when she died at the age of fifty-six years. Six children were born to them, two of whom died in childhood. Kennedy Friend was born at Pittsburgh, January 10, 1842. Coming to Wheeling at four years, he received his education here, attending the public and private schools and graduat- ing at Duff's Business college. He made his debut in business as the book-keeper for the firm of J. Clemmans & Co., at seventeen years of age, and three years later he embarked in business in partnership with
294
HISTORY OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY.
his father. At the death of the latter he took possession of the busi- ness, and has since conducted it under the old firm name, and has an extensive retail trade in general furniture and carpets, and conducts an undertaking establishment. Mr. Friend is a member of Nelson lodge, No. 30, A. F. & A. M., Wheeling Union chapter, No. 1, and Cyrene commandery, No. 6, K. T.
Dr. John Frissell, was born in Peru, Berkshire Co., Mass., March 8, 1810. He is the son of Amasa Frissell, a thrifty farmer of Scotch descent. His mother was of English parentage, named Wil- cox. They secured good educations to their six children, four sons and two daughters. The eldest of the sons was a farmer, and the other three received collegiate educations, and represented the pro- fessions of divinity, medicine and law. The subject of this sketch in his youth worked on the farm with his father, attending the common school in the winter, from which he was advanced to the academy in Old Hadley. He entered Williams college in 1827, and graduated A. B. in 1831. He commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Ebene- zer Emmons, of Williamson, whose assistant he had been in the Chemical laboratory of Williams college for two years. In 1832 he attended lectures at the Berkshire Medical college, in Pittsfield. At the invitation of Prof. Willard Parker, he accompanied him to Woodstock, in the spring of 1833, where he became demonstrator of anatomy. He filled the same position for Prof. Parker in the Berk- shire Medical school. At that period it was the duty of the demon- strator to prepare the dissections for the professor, and afterward to recapitulate closely to the class the professor's lecture, and to care- fully superintend and instruct all those making dissections. Having continued demonstrator through the year 1834, and attending lectures, he graduated M. D., from the Berkshire college at the close of that term. In the fall of this year he received the degree of A. M. from Williams college. Dr. Frissell moved to Wheeling, W. Va., in 1836, arriving there June 3. Dr. Frissell was early called upon to make those operations which his exact knowledge of anatomy enabled him to perform with skill and success. In 1838 he performed his first operation for hare-lip with deformed upper jaw, and in 1839, shortly after the first operations by George McClellan, of Philadelphia, for club-foot, by the division of tendons, Dr. Frissell operated for the relief of this deformity by the same method in Wheeling. In 1841, he commenced operations with success for strabismus; in November, 1853, he introduced in Wheeling the use of chloroform in capital operations. Dr. Frissell was connected with the Wheeling infirmary during its continuance, and has been connected with the hospital which, succeeded it from the time it was established. For more than twenty years he has held the appointment of chief physician and surgeon to these institutions, which as hospitals have fully supplied an urgent want in West Virginia, and also to Western Pennsylvania and south- eastern Ohio. Soon after the breaking out of the war Dr. Frissell was appointed by Gov. Pierpoint, medical superintendent of the military prisoners and soldiers stationed at Wheeling. He was subsequently
295
OHIO COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
continued as acting assistant surgeon at the same post by the surgeon general of the United States army, to the close of the war. Most of the time he had full charge of the medical department of the post. Dr. Frissell was also a member of the state board of examiners for sur- geons entering the army during the war. The position of surgeon for the marine patients at Wheeling has been filled by him for more than twenty-five years. He is also physician of the convent of the Sisters of Visitation, and the school for young ladies at Mount de Chantel, and to Saint Vincent's college. He was the first president of the medical society of the state of West Virginia, instituted May 10, 1867. He is a member of the American Medical association, and of the Medical society of Ohio county, and an honorary member of the Medical society of the state of California, and was a member of the Centennial International Medical congress of 1876. Dr. John Frissell was married to Elizabeth Ann, daughter of Col. John Thompson, of Moundsville, W. Va.
George I. Garrison, M. D., a leading physician and surgeon of Wheeling, was born at West Liberty, Ohio Co., W. Va., May 6, 1851. He is a son of Isaac Garrison, who was born in Pennsylvania in about the year 1829, and came to West Liberty about 1848, making that place his home. There he was married to Elizabeth Hedges, daugh- ter of John Hedges, a descendant of Sir Charles Hedges, one of the early residents of Maryland. He and wife are still living. Of their seven children, five of whom survive, Dr. Garrison is the oldest. The latter was reared at the home of his parents at West Liberty, and se- cured his early education in the common schools. He finished his literary education at the West Liberty State Normal school, where he was graduated July 1, 1873. Having already chosen the medical pro- fession as his favorite field of labor for the future, he had, while attending school, begun the study of medicine, with the late Dr. Will- iam Hukill, as his preceptor. Under the direction of this preceptor he began the practice of medicine in about 1875, also teaching school and pursuing his professional studies. In June, 1878, he located at Burton, Wetzel county. Upon the establishment of the state board of health and the regulation of the medical practice by statute in ISSI, he passed an examination before the board, and became a licen- tiate of the board July 21, 1881. During the following September he removed to Wheeling and began his practice there. Continuing his studies, he entered Jefferson Medical college, at Philadelphia, in Sep- tember, 1885, and was graduated from that institution April 3, 1886. The confidence reposed in Dr. Garrison as a professional man, is shown by his election and appointment to places of honor and trust. He was elected health officer of Wheeling in February, 1885, and on June 22, 1887, appointed by the governor a member of the state board of health for the first congressional district for a term of four years. On the 6th day of February, 1889, he was re-elected health officer of Wheeling. The doctor is a member of the Masonic order, and of the A. O. U. W., and is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church. He was married May 14, 1884, to Emilie A., daughter of the late
296
HISTORY OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY.
Thomas Wheeler. Four children were born to this union, of whom one son and one daughter are survivors.
John V. Gavin, prominent among the dry goods men of Wheeling, was born in Belmont county, Ohio, July 7, 1853, the son of Thomas and Ann (O'Malley) Gavin, both natives of Ireland. Thomas Gavin was born about 1830, and in 1847 came to America, settling first in Vermont. In this state he was married, and in 1851 he and wife came to what was then the west, during the period of the construction of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, and finally settled at Warnock's Sta- tion, in Belmont county. After coming to this region he was con- nected with the railroad, and is now a foreman on the Cleveland & Pittsburgh railroad. His wife died in 1868, leaving six children, four of whom are still living. John V. Gavin was reared in his native county, and received a common school education, but had in his youth small opportunities for advancement. He began work for him- self as a packing boy in the Belmont Nail works, and gradually worked up from that until he had filled various higher positions, and had devoted the last twelve years of his employment in that works to making nails. After an unsuccessful strike of the nailers which lasted for fourteen months, he became dissatisfied, and on Novem- ber 4, 1887, he embarked in the dry goods business, building his pres- ent place of business. In this enterprise he has met with success as complete as he could have anticipated, and he is now one of the lead- ing dry goods and notion dealers of the city. His place of business is at No. 2901 Eoff street. Mr. Gavin was married September 23, 1879, to Cecelia Mogan, who was born in Ireland and came to Amer- ica when a child, and they have had five children, four of whom sur- vive. Mr. Gavin is one of the foremost citizens of the Sixth ward, which he has twice represented in the city council. He was elected as a democrat to the second branch in 1882, and in 1884 to the first branch, but the latter position his business compelled him to resign before the expiration of his term of service. Mr. Gavin is one of the directors of the Union Accident and Benefit association. His relig- ious affiliation is with St. Mary's Catholic church.
O. C. Genther, a prominent citizen of Wheeling, wholesale jeweler, and lessee and manager of the Grand Opera House, was born at Woodstock, Champaign Co., Ohio, in 1843. He is the son of J. G. Genther, a native of Germany, who came to the United States when a young man, and settled in Ohio, where he was married to Julia Chance, who was born in that state. The latter died during the boy- hood of her son, but the father is still a resident of southern Ohio. The subject of this sketch when eleven years old left home, and going to Columbus, Ohio, began to learn the printing business, at which he was engaged for several years. Subsequently he was for ten years engaged in the show business, making Columbus his headquarters, and while thus occupied he visited Wheeling in 1860, giving a per- formance in the theatre of which he is now manager and lessee, it being then known as Washington Hall. Mr. Genther made his per- manent residence at Wheeling about 1874, engaging first in the print-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.